


Hey Hero (hit me up)

by Fuckdarcy



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, F/F, M/M, Misunderstandings, Secret Identity, gossipwriter!eliot, its a lois and clark au okay, lil angst, superhero!quentin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-04-03
Packaged: 2019-12-27 01:55:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18294500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fuckdarcy/pseuds/Fuckdarcy
Summary: How can one, Eliot Waugh, choose between the adorable photographer of Brakebills Press and the dashing suited superhero known as The Beast? Margo and Alice attempt to help, while Julia does the opposite of that.or, the Lois and Clark au that no one asked for but i desperately needed





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The Heroes   
> feat.  
> \- Quentin as The Beast  
> \- Julia as The Goddess  
> \- Penny as The Traveler

“Alright, Bambi. Today is the day.”

Margo sighed heavily, not looking up from her phone, “This is a terrible idea.”

“TODAY, I ask Quentin Coldwater out.”

“He looks like a serial killer.”

“Well if he is maybe I’ll get some good sex out of it first. That’s how serial killers work, right?”

“Is he even _into_ men _,_ El?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Eliot sniffed, swinging his Armani clad legs off the desk and standing up in a huff. He knew exactly what Margo was talking about.

Because even though he is Eliot Waugh – a part of the best gossip writer duo at Brakebills Press, the most popular, beautiful, and confident man to ever walk the earth, he had a bit of a reputation. And that was flirting with straight boys. 

More specifically, one Quentin Coldwater. The long-haired photographer for the paper, who also might be the anonymous fantasy writer who wrote that one rip-off Narnia story. But no one could prove that.

Eliot took great pride in his flirtationship with Quinten. He liked making him blush and stutter and smile, maybe duck his head and trip as he’s walking away. Margo thought it was pathetic and roasted Eliot constantly. 

Eliot could never tell if Q took his flirting seriously or not, but he kind of hoped so. He liked to think that all his flirting would eventually turn to foreplay, and then a night of passion, which would then turn into a beautiful relationship, and then maybe they would get married and adopt a kid. Probably. Whatever. The point is, Eliot is super serious about Quentin and was going to make that clear any day now.

“Hey! Waugh!”

Eliot spun around to face the loud voice of the investigative reporter, Kady Orloff-Diaz, who was stalking through the bullpen with a scowl. Eliot sighed, leaning back on his desk. “Whatever could you want from me? A humble gossip writer?”

Kady’s scowl got meaner, if that’s possible. “I need to talk to your friend. The super one.”

“Oooohhh…Eliot she wants the number.” Margo crooned from the other side of the desk, finally looking up from her phone to wink at Eliot.

Who, in turn, gasped, “The super number?”

Margo tutted, shaking her head at Kady, “I don’t know, Diaz. The Beast gave that number to Eliot for, you know…a booty call.”

A large clanging sounded from the other side of the room and Eliot smiled to himself. He knew that noise. That was the noise of someone tripping and falling over the coffee machine. Something Quentin did every. Single. Day.

Eliot looks over just in time to see the mailcart guy (Peggy, Penny?) help Quentin up with a sneer. He then turns back to Kady with a smile on his face, “Yeah, how do I know that you don’t want this number in order to take my place as The Beast’s newest lover?”

Kady groaned and crossed her arms, “I don’t want anything to do with that. I just need answers about the robbery he stopped last night.”

Eliot’s grin got wider as there is the sound of someone clearing their throat behind him. He turned around, ready with a dazzling smile and ignoring Margo’s snort of disapproval.

Quentin Coldwater, hair falling over his face, stood there with a sheepish expression. He cleared his throat, eyes shifting from the floor to Eliot, “Did– Did I hear something about The Beast?”

Margo sighed loudly, “Oh my God, you’re such a fucking fanboy Coldwater.”

“Shhhh…” Eliot shushes Margo, grinning down at Q, “He’s adorable.”

He winked at Q and smirked at the blush that rises immediately to Q’s cheeks. “Why yes, Q, we were talking about The Beast. You know I _love_ a superhero.”

“He says that he and The Beast are fucking.”

Eliot whipped around to face Kady, who smiles condescendingly. Quentin seemed to be choking on something behind him, but Eliot couldn’t be bothered with that at the moment. “That is _not_ what I said! Here, just take the fucking number!” Eliot grabs his wallet out of the desk and flips it open, pulling out a pristinely folded piece of paper. “Take a picture and get out of here.”

Practically throwing it at Kady he turned back to Q with an apologetic smile. Q was bright red and folded his arms across his stomach, a small smile tugging at his mouth.

“Thanks, Waugh.” Kady snapped from behind him, throwing the number back onto his desk and stalking away. Eliot pressed a hand to his face and sighed, looking over at Margo. “I shouldn’t have given that to her.”

As Margo shook her head at him, Quentin piped up, “I don’t know. The Beast would probably want to help with her investigation. Don’t you think?”

Eliot shrugged, rubbing at his temples, “I guess we’ll see. Who knows what superheroes are thinking?”

Quentin patted his arm, smiling, “It’ll be okay, El.”

And with that he walked away, waving a goodbye to Margo. Eliot turned to her as soon as Q was out of earshot, hand already touching the place Q had patted him. Margo raised an eyebrow. “That was pathetic.”

Eliot slumped back down in his chair and plucked the number up, examining it for the first time since The Beast had shoved it into his hands.

“This Beast thing is going to be the death of me, Bambi.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have made out with him then.” Margo snipped, standing and dusting off her tight red suit. “Need a coffee, babe?”

Eliot groaned, “Please and thank you, light of my life.”

 

***

 

Superheroes weren’t a new thing to the city anymore. There had just been one at first, a man in a tight black suit and a black mask. Then another super had joined him, a woman in a white cat suit and a hood. He had telekinesis and she seemed to be indestructible. They had proclaimed to be The Beast and The Goddess.

At first Eliot thought the names were super fucking pretentious – but hey, if that’s what they wanted he wasn’t going to stop the paper from calling them that. A few months after the woman another super took to the streets. He didn’t wear a mask or a supersuit, just a long open duster and too many necklaces for Eliot’s taste. They called him The Traveler, because he was able to teleport.

Eliot and Margo had gotten really drunk one night and both agreed that The Traveler was _definitely_ the guy who ran the mailcart for the paper – they looked _exactly_ alike. But hey, they weren’t going to out him.

This whole number thing though, that had started a couple of days ago.  That was when that blasted number had been shoved into his hands. And when Eliot had decided that The Beast wasn’t who he wanted after all.

 

Eliot had decided to ignore Margo’s sage, but inconvenient, advice and crashed the party of the famous Mob, The Free Fairies. He wanted the insider scoop about the life of their leader, the Queen. Everyone wanted to know how a badass woman like her lived, how she ruled – think of the readers, Margo!

It was a totally solid plan. Until the Queen had noticed him and then subsequently decided that he should be thrown out. Or, rather, thrown off the roof. Before Eliot had time to retaliate by punching her henchmen in the nuts, he’s been hurled off the side of the skyrise.

Instead of freaking out he just reached up to make sure that his eyeliner wasn’t smudged. The wind whistled past his ears as he fell, the cars below growing louder and louder – and then it all stopped. Eliot found himself floating slowly through the air, his body changing direction on its own. As he was gently lowered down onto the roof of a nearby building he struck a damsel in distress pose and swooned.

Of course The Beast had caught him from falling, again, with his _magic powers_.

“My own personal hero, however shall I repay you?” Eliot simpered, standing up straight and taking in the image of his rescuer. The Beast, in his sharp suit and black mask watched him with anger sparking in his eyes.

“What if I hadn’t been here to catch you?” The Beast growled out, the voice of the man beneath the mask was modified heavily into a deep pitch and Eliot rolled his eyes.

“You’re always here to catch me.”

The Beast took a quick step forward into Eliot’s space at the comment. Eliot looked down, considering the superhero. “You know I thought you were taller than me. You’ve always looked taller than me. We’re you _levitating_ yourself—”

“You know how many times I have had to save you in this month alone?” The Beast growled out, and Eliot felt his stomach flutter. Because as much as Eliot was hung up on Quentin, the Beast was kind of hot. The tight suit, the righteous flash of his eyes, and all that was being aimed at a poor, defenseless Eliot.

“I am not some damsel in distress!”

“Twelve times! That’s how many times I’ve saved you! And that’s not counting the two times that Jul – The Goddess had to save you! I can’t keep worrying—"

And then Eliot had kissed him, grabbing his neck and pulling him in.

And WOW.

The Beast had risen up on tip-toes – which shouldn’t have been that hot okay – and was kissing him back. There was sparks dancing over Eliot’s skin and The Beast had thrown his arms around Eliot’s shoulders. The Beast was whimpering into his mouth and suddenly Eliot gets hit with it—

 - The white shirt that Eliot is wearing…Quentin had spilled coffee on it last week and then freaked out. Despite Eliot’s assurance it was fine he had rushed off and bought a huge bag of baking soda to clean it. The collar of the leather jacket that The Beast is clutching as they kiss; it’s the one Quentin had bought him for Christmas last year. He had been so shy, smiling and blushing when Eliot had squealed in excitement and picked him up to spin in around. 

Eliot couldn’t do this. Oh shit, he couldn’t do this. His dick was threatening to mutiny as Eliot pulled away from The Beast’s embrace. The Beast’s hands were trembling as they uncurled from his collar.

“Sorry, sorry,” Eliot whispered, “I think – I think one of those goons hit me a little harder than I thought. But wow, wow, that was amazing.” Eliot felt like the worst person ever as The Beast quickly stepped away from him, eyes wide.

“Oh my gosh, of course. I’m so sorry!” The Beast’s low voice was regretful, and his shoulders were slumped as he gazed up at Eliot. Eliot quickly backtracked, stepping forwards to reassure the superhero.

“No, no, it’s not your fault! It would have been a lot worse if you hadn’t saved me. I’m just a little woozy is all. Maybe you had a little to do with that.” Eliot couldn’t help himself, he winked. The Beast perked up at the wink, a small smile lifting his face. The Beast nods, and then tilts his head, almost shyly.

“Do you – I mean, would you like a lift home?”

Eliot felt like the worst person ever, because he said yes. The Beast pressed a button on his watch and suddenly The Traveler was standing behind him.

“Here.” The Beast whispered, shoving a piece of paper into Eliot’s hand. “You might need this.”

“Oh gross.” The Traveler had groaned and then immediately had popped Eliot back home, The Beast waving as they disappeared. The Traveler was totally that mailcart guy. Eliot was 89% sure now.

Margo had laughed until she cried when he told her. Between gasps of air and hysterical laughter she had sputtered out, “You’re telling me that you turned down superhero sex, for Quentin Coldwater?”

When she put it like that he did sound pretty stupid.

 

***

 

That had been a few days ago, and Kady demanding the number had been the first time Eliot had pulled it out. The handwriting was messier than he expected it to be.

Well, the only thing left to do was to woo the boy he had given up superhero sex with. And there was only one person who had ever managed to woo Q. Eliot knocked quietly on the door to the darkened research room. “Alice? You in there?”

The door opened on its own, with a technological whir, and Eliot stepped inside. The research room was small and dark, the one window covered with a lace curtain. And while it was small, it was cozy and sophisticated.

Alice spun around in her high-backed chair – the one she had gotten customized with pink velvet. “Eliot.” Was her soft greeting.

“Very preppy, Alice, as always.” Eliot greeted right back, taking in her short blue dress with the ruffles on the sleeves. She rolled her eyes and her right hand fidgeted towards the computer behind her. 

“I assume you’re here about Q.”

Eliot shrugged, picking up a stress ball off her desk and tossing it up and down, “Maybe?”

She fixed him with an unimpressed stare, eyebrow quirked. He continued tossing the stress ball, staring her down. He blinked first. “Okay, maybe I’m here about Q.”

Her computer beeped and she spun around, fingers flying over the keys. Eliot patiently waited, leaning his body against the door and watching as Alice dealt with whatever had stolen her attention.

“Margo says hi, by the way.”

Alice groaned, shoving away from the desk and standing up to face him. “Listen, Q doesn’t like anything flashy, just make him dinner and then kiss him and send him home.”

“No sex?” Eliot whined.

“No sex.” Alice confirmed, glaring at him. “No one night stand either.”

Eliot gasped in offence. “Me? Never?”

Alice silently glared until Eliot relented. “I wouldn't do that. Not with Q.”

“Okay then,” Alice clapped her hand together and started pushing him out the door. Eliot grabbed the door frame to stop himself from being shoved out completely.

“Wait, wait, one more question!”

Alice sighed, “No, Eliot, Quentin is not straight.”

And the door slammed in his face. Eliot grinned and strode off to find Margo.

Finding Margo lounging in the breakroom, he gave her the rundown –

“And you’re not going to have sex with him?” Margo asked, incredulous. The two pf them were now both laying out over the break room couch like they owned it. Margo painting her nails a blood red.

“For true love, Bambi! True Love!”

Margo sighed, blowing on her fingernails and then pulling back to examine them. “You’re just horny, El. Why don’t you use that number and let The Beast take care of that?”

Eliot groaned, sliding off the couch and onto the carpeted floor. “I don’t want too…” he whined out, glancing up to fix Margo with a pathetic pout. She just pouted back.

“I haven’t had time to call him. I mean, not enough time to give him he patented break-up speech. I mean what do I even say to him? ‘You’re literally my kink but hey turns out I’m in love with a nerdy photographer lol sorry hope you’ll still rescue me?’”

“Sounds fine to me.” Margo shrugged, and Eliot groaned again.

“No. I am not having that conversation. And now that I know for sure that Q is _not_ straight I should focus on asking him out. The Beast probably has a million boy toys to play with.”

Eliot was trying to convince himself of that anyway.

Eliot jumped up before he could think about it too much, making Margo lean back so not to get hit with one of his flying limbs. “Jesus!” she exclaimed, “Warn a girl!”

“I’m gonna do it. Now. I have to be brave.”

“And hey, if it doesn’t work out you can always rebound with a superhero.”

“Shut up.”

Eliot strode out of the break room and through the bullpen, looking around for a mop of familiar long brown hair. Kady was by the elevators, talking to mailcart guy. There was Josh, the food critic, complaining about something to that bored looking intern that was probably named Todd. No Quentin though.

“Looking for someone?”

Eliot spun around on his heel to face a grinning Q. “Why yes I was! You, in fact.”

“Me?” Quentin pointed at himself, looking worried all of a sudden. “Why?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to get out of here tonight? With me. Little change of scenery, maybe?” Eliot winced internally, this was not his smoothest delivery. Even so Quentin perked up, the smile returning to his face.

“That sounds good, what were you thinking?”

Eliot smiled, confidence rising back up. He reached out and tucked a stand of hair behind Q’s ear, reveling in the way Q leaned into his touch. “Dinner? My place?”

“Yeah – I mean, yes that sounds great.” Q stuttered out, staring up at Eliot in awe.

“Amazing,” Eliot patted Q’s cheek lightly and then winked, “Don’t be late, Q, I’m not a patient man.”

Quentin’s face got even more red, eyes flicking down to the floor and smiling softly. “I’m never late.”

 

***

 

Eliot had pulled out all the stops. His apartment was spotless, his grey silk vest was freshly ironed, his hair was perfectly coiffed, and he had thrown The Beast’s number into the garbage disposal. His balcony was where he’d set up for the dinner, dragging his table and chairs out of the kitchen and digging through his closet until he found an actual tablecloth. Margo had been Facetiming with him the whole time, giving him decorating tips and making sly comments about his sex life.

“Everything looks perfect, El.” Margo’s tiny voice called out of his phone. Eliot had just finished showing her the final sweep of the balcony, where he had just set out a candle and the napkins. “You don’t even put this much effort in for me! I’m almost offended.”

“Shush, you know I love you best.”

Eliot collapsed back onto his couch, glancing at the clock on the wall. 6:37. He had a little bit of time still. Margo had her phone set up against her mirror as she curled her hair and Eliot leaned forward with interest. “Why are you getting all prettied up?”

Margo finished off a last curl and placed her curler delicately down. “I told you I had a date tonight.” She said sagely, narrowing her eyes.

“You did not!”

“I did! During lunch today. You just don’t remember.”

Eliot remembered that Q had dropped a pile of paper on the floor when he and Margo were sharing lunch. That was it.

“Q was wearing those tight jeans today.” Margo quipped out, moving onto her eye shadow after shooting Eliot a very unimpressed look. Eliot blew her a kiss.

“I remember _that_. Okay, okay, tell me about the date.”

Margo smiled, her eyes going soft, “It’s with the girl I ran into at the knife exposition.”

“Ooh, she was pretty. Also, terrifying.”

“I know.” Margo’s voice sounding dreamy even through the phone.

“Well tell me how it goes with knife girl.” Eliot stood, to antsy to sit for long. Margo hummed the affirmative, “Have fun on your date, don’t scare the boy off.”

“I’ll try. Love you.”

“Love you!” Margo waved and then ended the call, leaving Eliot to make sure that the potatoes were done and the meat hadn’t gotten cold.

At exactly seven, the doorbell rang. Eliot definitely did not run to get it, but slowly walked. No need for Quentin to think he was eager. He did a last check of his outfit and the room before sweeping the door open.

“Hey, El.”

“You pressed your cardigan.”

Quentin looked down at the dark green cardigan he wore everyday with an odd look. “I guess I did. I wanted to…look nice.”

Eliot resisted to urge to grab him and kiss him now. Barely. “Well it worked.” Eliot allowed himself to say, stepping aside to allow Q inside. Quentin stepped into the apartment, a smile on his face.

 

***

 

Eliot honestly hadn’t even attempted to hope that the date would go this well. But here he was, across the table from Quentin Coldwater who had his head thrown  back in laughter. Eliot didn’t try to hide his infatuated grin as Q laughed, letting his eyes trace over him.

“There’s no way that story is true.” Quentin gasped out. Eliot shrugged, sipping from his wine glass to hide his grin.

Quentin, still snorting, also picked up his wine glass and took a sip. Eliot took a breath, smiling at Q in a way he was sure Margo would make fun of him for. Oh well.

“You know I’ve been wanting to ask you out for a while.” Eliot said softly, watching as Q’s eyes widened in surprised.

“Really? Me?”

“Someday you won’t be so surprised. You’re very charming. Bumbling, but charming.”  Eliot winked, and Quentin rolled his eyes.

“Maybe not the charming part. Bumbling I see though.”

“No, no, “Eliot shook a finger in denial, “Enough of that Q. No self-loathing at my table. I claimed it all long ago.”

Quentin held his hands up in surrender with a small smile. “Sorry. Just – I don’t know, you’ve always seemed so untouchable.”

“Well _you_ of all people are allowed to touch me.” Eliot ran a hand down his chest suggestively, making Quentin snort in amusement.  

A loud beeping started sounding from Quentin’s pocket and Eliot leaned forward, intrigued. “Is that a phone I hear? On our date? Am I not enough entertainment?”

“Sorry, sorry. I thought I had silenced it.” Quentin dug through his pockets until he pulled out a sleek black flip phone.

Eliot choked on the sip of wine he had taken, “Quentin? Dear, are you a fucking drug dealer?”

Quentin looked up from the phone in confusion. “What?”

“The fucking ancient technology you’re holding. That’s what drug dealers use. That is not the iphone that I put my number into however many years ago.”

Quentin had glanced back down as his phone as Eliot was talking, eyebrows furrowing. “No, no, not a drug dealer.”

“Shame.” Eliot muttered. A second of silence passed as Quentin typed furiously. Eliot sighed. This was why people didn’t use flip phone anymore.

Quentin was suddenly on his feet, the chair toppling backwards on the patio. “Shit!” Q exclaimed, hurrying to pick it up. He was shaking, face tight and worried. Eliot immediately switched modes, “Q? It’s fine, hey, what’s happening?” Eliot stood with him, setting his wine glass down.

“I’m sorry, El. I have to go.”

“What? Why?” Eliot stepped towards him, hand outstretched. “Is everything okay?”

Quentin smiled tightly, taking his hand and squeezing it once, “Yeah, everything’s fine. I just have a job to do.”

“A job?”

Quentin started making his way for to the door, looking back at the frozen Eliot. “Yeah, a job to do. You know.” He winked at Eliot, who had no idea how to take that as a gesture. Q was practically running out the door, but still winking at him? What did that mean?

“It’s been lovely, El! I’ll see you soon!”

And he was gone, the door clicking shut in his wake.

Well.

Eliot sat back down.

There was only one thing to do after an exit like that.

Get absolutely blitzed.

 

Eliot Waugh, the cities most eligible bachelor and best gossip writer on the continent likes to think that he handles the situation very well. He tries calling Margo at least eight times but she has her phone off – how it should be on a date – but that doesn’t stop Eliot from leaving at least seven very long, whiny voicemails.

The ice cream he had in the freezer really paired well with the other two bottles of wine that he had bought.

“Pull yourself together.” Eliot mumbled to himself, staring out at the police lights that are dancing across the sky. A fire had started in the middle of the city, making a very pretty light show for him to watch. A streak of white flew through the sky towards the trouble and Eliot winced. Fucking superheros.

Damn. He really shouldn’t have thrown away that number.

He didn’t know how long he had been lounging on the balcony, just that it was getting rather cold. Not that he could feel it.

“You okay?” a deep voice from above asks.

When Eliot looks up, blinking blearily he sees maybe the worst sight. The Beast in all his tight-suited glory and with mask hiding his features, was hovering above him, haloed by the full moon. Eliot groaned. “This night has been fantastically fucked up.”

Eliot raised the wine bottle in toast to the hero, grinning wearily. The Beast landed gently on the balcony next to him, reaching for the bottle with a rueful smile, “Well that isn’t going to make it better.”

Eliot tried to fight him for half a second but then just allowed The Beast to take it from him. The hero placed it gently down on the table and then started to sit delicately on the other side of the table. Well that wasn’t allowed.

“ _That_ is not your seat.” Eliot slurred, pointing with a single finger, a glare on his face. The Beast freezes, looking up at Eliot with surprise in his eyes. Eliot continues, “And while we’re talking, I have to tell you something important. Because I’m trying to have the shittiest time ever, I guess.” 

The Beast stands slowly, “Tell me what?”

Eliot sits up straight, clearing his throat in a super professional way. “Well, Hero of mine, you’re the hottest thing I’ve ever seen and wow that make out session we had was amazing. And while I would love to have you spread out on my bed – I don’t think this is gonna work out.”

The Beast seemed to be having a mini-stroke, and Eliot guessed that that was probably a normal reaction for a hero being turned down. Eliot stood, patting The Beast on the shoulder.

“Sorry.”

The Beast pulled away, shaking his head. “No, no, _I’m_ sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed—”

Eliot waves away the comments, “No worries, hero mine. Just know that I’m off the table.”

The Beast’s shoulders slumped, staring down at the ground. “Are – are you sure, El? I thought…? Well, I don’t know what I thought.”

“Again, no worries. No hard feelings, right?” Eliot offered, swaying slightly as the ground started to move out from beneath his feet. Oh, now The Beast was catching him. Did he fall?

The quiet, “No hard feelings.” From the superhero was the last thing he heard before he blacked out.

 

 


	2. A Goddess Steps In

“Why would he call me _El_ though? It seemed really overly familiar. Doesn’t that seem overly familiar?” Eliot sits, sunglasses perched his face, calmly at his desk. He had shown up to work in the tightest pair of pants he could find with his favorite white vest. He would certainly look good as he contemplates his horrible life over the sound of his thundering headache.

Margo sat at the desk opposite of him, the bottle of aspirin and flask of vodka she had promised still sitting between them. He could hear the suppressed amusement in Margo’s voice as she reached over and stroked his head, “Aw, baby, maybe he just thought you were closer than that. Boy’s get attached quickly you know.”

Eliot slowly lowered his sunglasses. “Not superhero boys.”

“They’re basically the same thing.”

Eliot pushed his sunglasses back up. “I hate this. I’ve never had this happen to me. He just ran out the door.”

“Yes, you have. A couple of times.”

Eliot waved that away, “He ran out the door with the vaguest excuse of ‘doing a thing’ and didn’t even have the decency to text me to tell me what happened or why he did it. This is the worst breakup I’ve ever been through.”

Margo sighed and stood up, tugging at the hem of her tight blue dress and then coming to stand behind him. She started massaging his head with her fingers, “You weren’t even dating, El.” She said in a soothing tone.

“I don’t know what even happened, Bambi. Did I tell you about my dream last night?” Eliot grumbled, closing his eyes and moaning as Margo continued massaging his temples. Margo hummed an affirmative, but Eliot ignored her. “So, I blacked out right – and then I was in this clearing and there was this adorable little fucking house and a little kid was running around and then—”

“And then Quentin came out of the house and you guys were _husbands_ and in _love_ , yes, yes, I _know_. El, this is getting sad.”

Eliot groaned.

“Um, excuse me?”

Eliot lowered his sunglasses slowly, and as he did the pure white suit nearly blinded him. After taking in the suited superhero standing in front of him, and blinking a few times, he craned his head back to look at Margo for an explanation.

Behind Margo the entire room had ground to a halt. The intern, Todd, was openly gaping from a few desks away and the rest of the staff had stopped their daily tasks to watch The Goddess stand in front of Eliot’s desk. Her white hood was lowered to display her pretty, angular face – covered with a small white mask of course. Hands on her hips and hair tied back, this superwoman looked ready to beat his ass.

“Hello, Margo Hanson, what can I do for you?” Margo, king of Eliot’s heart, stepped between him and The Goddess. Her hand politely extended towards the super.

The Goddess reached out and shook her hand, eyes flickering between Eliot and Margo. “I’m looking for Eliot Waugh.” She spoke softly but firmly. Eliot placed his sunglasses gently on the desk in front of him and then reached for the silver flask.

“That would be me.” Eliot took a long drink from the flask, closed it and placed it back down, before finally standing.  “What can I do for you, Goddess?”

Margo stepped slightly to the side to stand next to him, eyebrows raised. The Goddess looked very unimpressed with him, her mouth pursed in annoyance. “Listen,” she began, glancing around the room, “I don’t know who you think you are, but you should apologize.”

Eliot felt his mouth fall open in a very unattractive gape, but damn, how else was there to react? He slowly pointed a finger at his own chest. “I need to apologize?”

“You absolutely do.” The Goddess hissed, her eyes narrowing.

Margo cleared her throat from beside him, calling the attention back to her. “And who, pray tell, does Eliot need to apologize to? It better not be a certain other superhero.” The Goddess looked ready to interrupt but Margo barreled right on. “Just because he’s a hero does not mean Eliot has to date him, or fuck him, or whatever shit he’s into.”

The Goddess shook her head, eyes wide under his mask. “No, no! That’s not what I meant at all.” She took a deep breath and then clasped her hands together, looking past Margo to Eliot. “Look, Eliot, if you really didn’t have feelings for him – fine. But leading him on and then ripping his heart out was kind of fucked up.”

“I didn’t rip his heart out! He’s a hero! He’s super strong and all that!” Eliot bit back, hands on his hips and eyes narrowed. The Goddess huffed out an unconvinced laugh, “He’s still a normal fucking person underneath the suit. Dumbass.”

“Hey!” Margo hurried to his defense, stepping forward only for Eliot to put a hand out to stop her. Eliot sighed, rubbing his temples as his headache seemed to double. “I didn’t mean to hurt him like that. I’m just – I’m in love with someone else, okay?”

A small gasp from to the left made the three of them all turn to see: Todd. The lanky boy was standing with a hand over his excited mouth. “Who is it?” he asked, eyes wide and interested.

“Get out of here, Todd.” Margo snapped, waving a hand. Todd jumped and hurried off, glancing back a couple times. Eliot sighed again, turning back to The Goddess.

“I am sorry that The Beast was hurt by my actions, okay?”

“Well, who is it?” The Goddess demanded, cocking her hip and leaning on the desk. Eliot raised his eyebrows, leaning on his desk to copy her position. “Who are you so in love with?” she asked again.

“I don’t have to tell you that. No offense.”

“I could just read your mind and find out on my own.” The Goddess said, voice turning low and threatening.

Margo scoffed from next to him. “You can’t do that. That’s not within your power set.” she said, crossing her arms. Eliot pointed at Margo to make her point the one that he agreed with.

The Goddess huffed, throwing her arms up in the air. “Well shit. Okay, I can’t do that. But I want to know anyway. Well, _he’ll_ want to know.”

“It’s the photographer.” A deep amused voice spoke up from the right.

“Fuck, guys could we have like a fucking semblance of privacy?” Eliot snapped, turning to see who had interrupted them this time. Standing there, leaning on his mail cart with a smirk on his face, was the mailcart guy. The Goddess had also turned, and as soon as she laid eyes on him she immediately smiled.

“Penny! What are you doing here?”

The mailcart guy, Penny, stood up straight at her greeting and his face scrunched up in confusion. “Sorry lady, but how do you know my name?”

The Goddess rolled her big brown eyes, still smiling. “Shut up. When did you even get a job here?”

“No really.” Penny said, “I’ve never met you. Um, Ms, Goddess, or whatever you want to be called.”

The Goddess looked Penny up and down, taking a step back to take him all in. As she looked him and his light grey suit over her eyes clouded in confusion. “You’re not Penny.”

“No, I _am_ Penny.”

“Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ.” Margo huffed out, stepping between Penny and the Goddess. “Enough of this shit. Listen, Goddess, Eliot’s in love with the nerdy photographer that works here. Super boring, I know, but hey he can fuck whoever he wants. Tell The Beast to find a new love interest for his comic book.”

The Goddess stilled as Margo spoke, eyes growing wide. The superhero started to laugh, putting a hand to her face to muffle it.

“Are you telling me that he’s in love with _Quentin Coldwater_?” The Goddess chokes out.

Eliot rolled his eyes, glaring down at Margo and then over at Penny just to make sure that he shifts the blame around. He narrowed his eyes at The Goddess, “What’s it to you? Do you know him?”

The Goddess quickly shook her head, a smile blooming across her face. “No, no, I definitely don’t know him. Not anyone by that name.”

“That was super convincing,” Margo mumbled to Eliot under her breath. Eliot nodded without looking away from the superhero. The Goddess was still smiling as she reached out a hand and took one of Eliot’s.

“I’m so sorry I misjudged you. You have nothing to apologize for.” Her grin was like sunshine and Eliot could feel the confusion rising up in his throat as she shook his hand a couple of times. Quicker than humanly possible she let go of his hand and turned back to Penny. “So, _Penny_ , I have a few questions for you.”

The Goddess reached down and pressed a button on the white belt she has around her waist, eyeing Penny the whole time. Immediately there is a soft whooshing sound and an _exact duplicate_ of Penny stands right next to The Goddess. This Penny is wearing a red shirt and a choker and looks very happy that The Goddess had called him. The two Pennys looked at each other and then both immediately started yelling.

 “Holy fuck.” Margo whispers.

“I have to agree with that.” Eliot hisses back. The two took a step back so as to behind the heroes.

After the whole debacle with the twin Penny’s The Goddess departed from Brakebills Press, Traveler Penny with her. Turns out that Mailcart Penny had lost a twin brother when he was younger and that the twin just happened to be Traveler Penny, _and_ one of their names was actually William, but honestly Eliot and Margo had left the conversation before it turned into Maury Povich.

 

***

 

“That was so much. A superhero legit turned up at work to tell you you’re a shitty person.”

“Thanks for that, bambi.” Eliot and Margo were lying on Eliot’s bed after work, a half-drunk bottle of gin between them. Margo’s head resting on his stomach as he carded his fingers through her hair.

“I wanna talk about how she for sure knew who Quentin was.” Margo said, turning her head up to gaze at him. Eliot made a hum of approval and reached for the gin.

After taking a long drink he shook his head, “I have no fucking clue how she would know Quentin. Maybe he took pictures of her for a cover or something?”

“Maybe… I don’t know. Did you notice how as soon as I told her you chose Quentin over The Beast she calmed right the fuck down?”

“I did indeed.”

“Now whatever could that mean?” Margo questioned, voice far to high to not be up to something. Eliot turned to look her in the eye, raising an eyebrow.

“What theories are you cooking up?” Eliot asked slowly, taking another slow swig from the bottle. Margo shrugged, jumping up off the bed and bouncing to her feet. Eliot sat up slightly, watching her as she traipsed around the room.

“I’m not theorizing shit. I was totally off with the Penny thing anyway.”

“To be fair, no one saw ‘long lost twin’ coming.”

“That’s true.” Margo grabbed her phone off the top of the dresser and unlocked it, looking through her messages. “Well, well, well, look at this…” Margo turns her phone around and points her Instagram feed at Eliot. He sat up fully, reaching out to take the phone. A picture of the two Penny’s yelling at each other with The Goddess smirking in the background, heavily filtered, had popped up on Todd the intern’s Instagram.

“Why do you even follow him?” Eliot asked, handing the phone back to her and making a face. Margo sighed and took the phone back, “He posts a lot of shirtless selfies and they aren’t half bad.”

“That's gross. How did your date go the other day? Before I called you a million times with my super break down?”

Margo kept scrolling through her feed but smiled, “It went pretty well, besides the fact that she’s way too sweet for a raging bitch like me to date.”

“Did she say that?” Eliot stood up, anger coursing through him, and Margo quickly shook her head, smirking in the face of waning anger.

“No! Jesus. Fen is to nice to even say that – which is the truth. Seriously, El, she dresses like a Disney princess. I’m going on another date with her next week, don’t worry.” The Instagram profile that Margo handed him this time was full of flower crowns and bright smiles. The girl featuring in most of the pictures was always smiling, always had a bunch of braids threaded through her hair, and seemed to always be carrying a dagger with her. Eliot mulled over the pictures, scrolling through the brightly colored posts of flowers and espresso art.

One picture of her and another girl caught Eliot’s eye and he squinted down at it. The other girl in the picture was slim and polished, her brown hair shiny and perfectly tousled. The two girls looked like a business woman had made friends with a fairy.

“Does this girl look familiar?” Eliot held the picture out for Margo to look over.

“She’s tagged as _julia_W_ – you think she’s one of Fen’s ex’s?” Margo asked, tapping on the tag. “Damn, this Julia girl is on private. _That_ means she’s hiding something.”

“Ex seems plausible. You recognize her?”

Margo shrugged, “Not really?”

Eliot pursed his lips, sitting back down on the bed. “I’m going crazy I guess.”

 

Margo left after dinner with a flip of her hair and a warning not to do anything stupid. Just as Eliot was shoving the leftover Thai takeout boxes into the trash there was a knock at the door. “God I’m just so _popular_ all the time.” Eliot muttered, wiping his hands on a stray towel and heading for the door.

“Yes, what can I do—” Eliot froze, the door open halfway.

Quentin stood on the other side of the door, hands deep in the pockets of his jeans. He flipped his hair to the side, smiling sheepishly up at Eliot. “Hi?”

Eliot slowly opened the door all the way, leaning on the doorway and crossing one leg over the other. “Well hello there. What can I do for you?” He tried to school his expression into something regal and vaguely threatening. In the face of Q smiling it might not be working as well as he wanted.

Quentin swallowed visibly, and then motioned into Eliot’s apartment. “Can I – Can I come in? Please, El?”

Eliot was actually ready to close the door in Q’s face. He was tired and already pretty beaten down after the whole Goddess fiasco. But the pleading note in Q’s voce prompted him to sigh and then turn to sweep an arm out to welcome Quentin through the door. “I suppose so.”

Quentin followed Eliot into the apartment and closed the door behind him with a quiet click. Eliot draped himself onto the couch, watching as Q fidgeted. Quentin sucked in a huge breath and took a quick step towards Eliot.

“I’m sorry for leaving in such a rush last night, it _wasn’t_ because I don’t like you or that I don’t want to date you, it’s just that a situation came up – and because I’m stupid and assume wrong things; I assumed that you knew what I was talking about.” Quentin said all in one breath, face turning red as he got through the sentence.

“Wait! Wait. You _do_ want to date me?” Eliot sputtered out, cutting Quentin off and sitting up straight.

Quentin nodded quickly and then shook his head just as fast. “I do want to date you if that was what you intended with the dinner, but I’m not so good at reading signals and if the dinner thing was meant as a friend thing then—”

“ _No_!” Eliot cut Quentin off again, loudly, “No, it was very much a date.”

Quentin let out a breath and smiled up at Eliot. Eliot noticed suddenly that the edges of Quentin’s eyes were red, had he been crying. Eliot reached out a hand and swiped a thumb over Q’s cheek. Quentin leaning into his touch, eyelashes fluttering. Quentin slowly reached up and took Eliot’s hand, moving it off his face. He looked worried.

“Eliot, I’m so sorry that I ran out on you. But I do have a good reason. I promise.”

Eliot nodded slowly, “I believe you, Q. I just didn’t understand what was happening. I thought you… well, you know.”

Quentin nodded quickly. “I get it. It was really fucking stupid and thoughtless. I would have thought the same thing. In fact…” He trailed off, letting go of Eliot’s hand and taking a step back. “I heard you got a super visitor today.”

“Did you see it on Todd’s Instagram?”

“No?” Quentin said, clearly confused. Eliot shrugged. Quentin shook his head, “No, I knew because she told me she went to see you.”

Eliot felt his eyebrows raise into his hairline. “So you _do_ know The Goddess.” Eliot breathed out, “Margo thought so. She used your full name and everything.”

Quentin rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, “Of course she name-dropped me like that. Nice job.”

“Listen Q, the reason your friend visited me was on behalf of The Beast – she literally showed up to berate me for hurting his precious feelings.” Quentin winced but Eliot barreled on. “I told her that I had eyes only for you and The Beast would have to deal with it.”

“I know.” Quentin said, smiling tightly, “That’s what she told me.”

“Great! That clears everything up then.” Eliot stepped forwards into Q’s space, but he stumbled back again.

“Not quite.”

Quentin’s eyes flicked around the apartment and then he walked over to the balcony doors, pulling the curtains closed and then moving back into the living room. He continued on by leaning down and pushing the coffee table off to the side of the room.

“Q… Honey, are you okay? Do you not like the placement of my table?” Eliot asked, curious but also very weirded out.

Quentin smile was nervous as he turned back to Eliot. “No, your table was fine – I just need a little room for this.”

“For…?”

“El, I promise everything will be _super_ clear in a few seconds.”

Eliot watched on with skeptical eyes as Quentin stood in the middle of his living room and closed his eyes. He reached out his hands and gestured forcefully, fingers curling into his palms and brow furrowing. A beat passed and just as Eliot was about to step forward and demand an explanation a whooshing sound cut through the apartment.

Black fabric seemed to appear out of thin air and swirled around Quentin, forming a whirlwind of black around his body.

“Quentin!” Eliot stepped forwards, hands reaching out. But quick as the fabric appeared, it vanished. Well, not vanished. The black fabric had wrapped around Quentin, forming the iconic tight back suit of a certain superhero, a long piece of black silk still rested in Quentin’s hands. Eliot watched, speechless, as Quentin reached up and tied the fabric around his head, pushing his long hair into the black silk.

In Quentin Coldwater’s place now stood The Beast.

Eliot was silent, with eyes wide. He gazed at the man in front of him. “Jesus Fuck, Coldwater.” He whispered, taking a step back. “This whole time?”

The Beast nodded, taking in Eliot’s reaction with hope in his eyes.

Eliot started talking slowly, his mouth running as the shock drained from his system. “I kissed you as The Beast a few days ago. You gave me your number, but I never called. Then when I asked you out, you assumed…” Eliot prompted Quentin who hurried to continue his sentence.

“I assumed you had figured out who I was and asked me out because of that.”

“Right. Cool.” Eliot rubbed a hand down his face. “You left the date, thinking I knew that you were on Beast duty that night and would therefore not be mad that you left.”

Quentin nodded quickly, affirming the story so far.

“But then when you returned, this time as The Beast, I rejected you. You as both The Beast and Quentin.” Quentin nodded again, and Eliot winced. “God, I’m so sorry, Q.”

“No, no it was my fault! I just assumed you didn’t want to date me after I had left so suddenly. And that would be super valid.” Quentin said, stepping toward Eliot.

Eliot held out his hand, holding him back for the time being.

“Okay,” Eliot started his train of thought again, “So when I rejected you, The Goddess got mad at me and decided to give me a talking to. But she found out I didn’t know that there was two of you.”

“Correct.”

“Fuck.”

Quentin reached up and untied the mask, letting his hair fall back down around his face. He shoved the strip of silk into his pocket, not taking his eyes off Eliot. “Please El, I —”

Eliot didn’t even let him finish. He stepped into Quentin’s space and grabbed him by the neck, pulling him into a fierce kiss.

Quentin let out a muffled groan and wrapped his arms around Eliot’s waist, throwing himself fully into the kiss. Eliot held him, one hand slipping up his neck and into his hair, tugging slightly. It was the same sort of kiss that Eliot had had with The Beast on that rooftop however many days ago. But as he drew away from Quentin’s mouth in order to lean down and kiss softly down his neck, Quentin sighed, melting into his arms, and Eliot decided that it was so much better.

 

***

 

Eliot and Quentin started dating that night, as well as having the most amazing sex Eliot had ever had (The fact Quentin could move things with his mind – hot. The fact that Eliot could make him levitate a bunch of objects on accident if he hit he right spot – hotter). Once Eliot was in on all the superhero shenanigans some parts of his life got a lot clearer. He told Margo immediately, obviously. Quentin hadn’t even asked him to hide it from her, though everyone else was off limits.

As it turns out Eliot and Margo were basically the only ones at the paper, besides Josh and Todd, who didn’t know about Quentin’s alter ego.

Alice was reintroduced to Eliot as the research department for more than just the paper. She was the eyes and ears for Quentin and the others. And the others included Julia Wicker as The Goddess, and newly dubbed Penny23 as The Traveler. Julia quickly bonded with Margo over roasting Quentin and Eliot ruthlessly, and she also did know Fen as it turns out. They had met during a kidnapping, and Julia had only just managed to save everyone with Fen’s help. Margo was duly impressed.

With Mailcart Penny newly in the picture, he and Traveler Penny were switching out the position of superhero on almost a daily basis. As it was, neither of them would change their nickname so everyone had taken to calling them Penny40 and Penny23. No one really knew why but Julia said it was because one was born at 1:23 and the other at 1:40.

Kady was dating Penny40 and had to be let in on the secret about his long-lost brother. Well, she figured it out herself after seeing Todd’s Instagram post and then interrogated him until he broke about the superhero stuff.

The Beast still had to save Eliot on a regular basis – who knew being a gossip reporter was so dangerous – but now it just ended with hot superhero sex. Quentin still in costume sometimes. Eliot’s roleplaying kink? Fulfilled.

Eliot still dreams of a house in a meadow with a little boy running towards him, but now he tells Quentin about the dreams – and it makes him smile so softly that Eliot wants to wrap him up in a blanket and keep him forever. And he plans to do just that.

 

 


End file.
